I received an e-mail the other day from a fan who evidently reads my blog.  The email was short and to the point.  It simply asked if my degree from Kaplan University was real, or were they a diploma mill.

I was not sure what to think.  In one of those rare moments where I was not sure what to say to such as question, I just replied, “It’s real.  It got me into a very good graduate school.”  What this tells me is that (1) people are not doing their homework and (2) there is some stigma out there regarding online degrees.  I think that if someone had any questions about a certain school being a diploma mill, there would be enough information out there that would confirm or deny any suspicions that might exist.  This is especially true here at e-Learners.  

Second, I have personally witnessed what has been a tremendous (and legitimate) fear of online education subside to almost nothing over the past six years.  The proliferation of diploma mills “back in the day” was a real fear and to some extent, is still a fear for some people.  

What has transitioned over the past six years or so since I started my college career at Kaplan is a flood of credible accounts of people like myself taking the leap into online education.  Sites like e-Learners, the media, and traditional brick-and-mortar schools adopting distance learning has done so much toward reducing the fear of diploma mills.

Furthermore, many people have been “outed” for listing diploma mills in their credentials.  Every once in a while we see the article that talks about people in government and other high-ranking positions who took the easy way out.  Awareness of the impact of diploma mills has caused the truth to float to the top.  This is good for us.

The bottom line is that people need to do their homework.  Do not be afraid to ask others who have been there.  People need to understand accreditation.  Define your dreams and go for it.